Residents tell Prairie County commissioners raccoon packs are overrunning Ballen neighborhood

Residents at Tuesday’s Prairie County commission meeting urged officials to address what they called an escalating raccoon problem in the Ballen neighborhood.

"The main reason we're here is because we've got a giant raccoon problem in Ballen," said the resident identified in the public record as speaker 6, who described multiple family groups of raccoons living in abandoned houses and raiding garbage during daylight hours. The resident said they had seen animals climbing trees and appearing on light poles and that the sheriff’s office had so far captured only a cat when called.

Other residents described attempts to trap animals using live traps and reported that traps had caught neighborhood cats but not the raccoons. One resident said they had the animals in a garage rafter and had to kick a raccoon off a porch two nights earlier.

Commissioners and attendees discussed options including live trapping, seeking property-owner permission for removal on private lots and potentially organized hunts. Commissioner-level participants cautioned that lethal removal raised legal and safety questions and noted that property-owner consent or formal authority would be required for some actions.

The board asked county staff to follow up. Chair (speaker 1) asked staff (Sonia was named by a resident) to check what steps could be taken and to report back at an upcoming meeting. The resident suggested the sheriff’s office had been contacted but that more coordinated effort — including a clear plan for live trapping and clarification about who would bear costs — was needed.

The commission did not make any formal motion or adopt a policy at the meeting; it directed staff to investigate options and return with recommendations at a later meeting.